Temperature controller



J1me 18, 1929. J. c. WHITE El AL 1,718,016

TEMPERATURE CONTROLLER Filed May 29, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 18, 1929. J. c WHITE ET AL 1.718.016

TEMPERATURE CONTROLLER a Q bu 1 k5 'm' N jzoewvw 51/ 73666" uazmazu/zze Patented June 18. 1929.

UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN G. \VHITE AND ROY W. MILLER, OF MADISON, WISCONSIN.

TEMPERATURE CONTROLLER.

Application filed May 29, 1926. Serial No. 112,447.

This invention relates to a temperature controller and more particularly to a regulator or controller for maintaining domestic hot water supply at a predetermined tempera ture.

One of the objects of the. present invention is to provide an improved temperature controller for domestic hot water supply in which high pressure steam is used as the heating element.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved controlling mechanism in which the admission of steam to the water heating coils is so controlled that the temperature of the water surrounding the coils is kept within pro-determined limits.

Another object of the invention is provide an improved temperature controller in combination with the improved form of valve mechanism in which the. valve is provided with novel means for permitting the steam to pass through the valve in starting, when the water in the tank becomes coldor below a pre-determined temperature. 3

A still further object of the invention is to provide a temperature controller in combination with an improved valve mechanism In which the construction of the valve is such that the pressure on the top of the valve or closure member is balanced to a certain extent by the pressure on the under side.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved temperature controller which will eliminate over heating of the water and one which is direct in action.

A yet further object of the invention is to provide a temperature controller which is sensitive to the rapid change in temperature of the water surrounding the expansion element and at the same time byreason of the sliding valve construction will give a much longer service without leakage.

These and'other ob 'ects of the invention are accomplished by construction and combination of the variousparts in the manner hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a water supply tank with a portion of the side broken away, showing our improved temperature controller operatively connected thereto.

l i 2 is a vertical cross sectional view taken through the longitudinal center of our temperature controller.

I l ig. 31s the cross sectional line taken on the lines 33 in Fig. 2.

FQ. 4 is an enla g d p P View of valve seat showing the position of the ports extending therethrough, and

Fig. 5 is thebottom plan view of the sliding valve or closure member. i

For the purpose of illustration, we have shown our improved temperature controller in connection with a water supply tank as shown at 10, which in turn is provided with the usual hot water connection 11, cold water' therewith as shown at 19, is a temperature controller casing or frame 20. Secured to the controller frame 20 by means of bolts 21 is a valve casing 22. Secured" to the valve casing 22 by means of bolts 23 is a supplemental valve casing 24. The supplemental valve casing 24 is in the form of a removable seat and is provided with two series of ports 25. Connected with the supplemental valve easing or seat 24 by threaded engagement therewith as shown at 26 is a conduit 27 which in turn communicates with a right angularly positioned conduit 28. The conduit 28 is connected to the heating coils 14 Within the tank 10.

jPositioned at the elbow 29 forming the connection between the conduits 27 and 28 is a test valve 30. The upper end of the valve casing 22 is connected by means of a conduit 31 to the steam supply. This casing 22 is provided with a rectangular chamber 33. Oneside of the valve casing 22 is provided with a rectangular opening 34 which in. turn communicates with the chamber 33. Mounted in the opening or recess 34- of the casing is a valve seat 35 of the supplemental valve casing 24. Mounted for reciprocatory movement on the valve seat 35 is a sliding valve or closure member 36 provided with communieating ports 37 which are adaptedto regis ter ivinii ports 25 and permitting the steam to pass from the supply conduit 31 to the heating coils 14 of the tank. The sliding valve or closure member 36 is provided with four sets of apertures or over-travel ports 38 which are adapted to communicate or register with the ports 25 of the seat 35 when the temperature Within the tank is low enough to cause the valve to be out of the normal operative position or when the system is shut down in the manner hereinafter described.

In order to partially relieve or balance the downward pressure on the valve or closure member 36, we have provided an aperture 36 extending through the sliding valve member which in turn communicates with the oppositely disposed V shaped grooves 37. These V shaped grooves are preferably formed on the face of the sliding valve that contacts with the valve seat so that the steam entering this aperture 36' is forced into the grooves and to a certain extent relieves the downward pressure on the valve or closure member and considerably reduces the friction between the sliding valve and its seat.

The actuation of the valve is controlled by an expanding element which comprises a brass tubular pipe or member 39 preferably made from a commercial brass pipe and has one end secured to the controller frame 20 by threaded engagement as shown at 40 to a sleeve 41 secured to the controller frame 20. The outer end of the expanding element or tube 39 is provided with a sleeve or cap 42 which is in threaded engagement with an outer end of the tube. Secured to the cap by means of threaded engagement therewith as shown at 43 is a rod 44 which is preferably made of a nickel-steel alloy known as invar having a relatively low co-eflicient of expansion. This rod is preferably six feet 'in length and has its inner end extending through the sleeve 41 into the controller framewhere it is connected to a bracket 45 by threaded engagement therewith as shown at 46. This bracket is preferably made in two halves and securedtogether by bolts 47. The expanding element or tube 39 is positioned to extend into the tank 10 at substantially the axial center thereof as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The two halves of the bracket 45 are provided with two laterally extending spaced about arms 48 which have their forward end pivotally connected by a bolt 49 to a lever 50. The lower end of the lever 50 is pivotally connected by means of a bolt 51 to a bracket 52 secured to the controller casing 20. The upper or free end of the lever 50 is provided with fork shaped arms 53 which in turn are pivotally connected at 54 to oppositely disposed links 55. The other ends of the links 55 are connected to oppositely disposed lugs 56 formed on the opposite sides of the threaded nut 57. Operatively connecting the nut 57 with the valve 36 is a stem 58. This stem 58 is provided with a threaded extension 59 which is in threaded engagement with the nut 57. The other end of the stem 58 is provided with spaced apart" flanges 60 and 61 which engage the outer ends or vertically extending walls 62 and 63 respectively of the valve or closure member 36. The valve stem 58 is seated in U shaped openings 64 formed in each of the walls 62 and 63 of the closure member so as to permit the closure member to be readily removed from the stem if found necessary and at the same time to permit the closure member to have a certain amount of movement with respect to the stem so that it may properly seat itself on the valve seat 35. The valve stem is supported and reciprocally mounted in a tubular bracket 65 which in turn is secured to the valve casing 22 by means of bolts 66 which extend through a circular flange 67 formed integrally with the tube. Mounted within a cylindrical extension 68 formed on the tubular bracket 65, which extends into the valve casing 22, is a wiper as shown at 69 which prevents grit or other sediment from entering between the capillary fit of the stem with the tube. I The wiper or packing 69 is held in position by a packing nut 70 which is in threaded engagement with the inner bore of the extension 68. The reciprocating stem 58 is provided with a plurality of spaced apart annular water grooves 71. The outer end of the tubular member 65 is provided with a downwardly extending connection as shown at 72 to which is connected an elbow 73 and conduit 74.

Adjacent the extension 7 2 and in the bore of the tubular member 65 is an annular groove 75 in which the water of condensation passing between the stem of the tube is collected and passed down through the elbow 73 in conduit 74 into the sewer. The bore in the tubular member 65 is of such a diameter as to form the capillary lit with the reciprocating stem 58.

From the above description, it will be understood that when our improved temperature controller is mounted in the water sup ply tank 10 as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing and the temperature of the water withinthe tank reaches a temperaturebelow the predetermined point for which the valve is set, the valve or closure member 36 will be shifted to the right of its normally closed operative position which is the same position as shown in Fig. 2. ber 36 is shifted to the right of'the position as shown in Fig.2 so that the over-travel ports 38 or at least certain of the over-travel ports 38 register with the ports 25 in the seat 35, the system is shut down and when the steam is turned on these over-travel ports permit the steam to pass through the conduit 31 into the communicating conduit 27 from where it passes into the heating coils 14 within the tank 10 and when the temperature of the When the valve or closure m-emwater within the tank rises, the expanding elementor tubular member 39 expands causing the lever 58 to swing inwardly toward the tank by reason of the rod 44 which operatively connects the lever with the expanding element. By reason of the connecting links 55 connecting the free end of the lever 50 with the stem 58, it will be readily seen that the sliding valve or closure member 36 will be drawn to its normal operative position so that the series of ports 37 register with the ports'25 in the seat 35 and when the temperature of the water within the tank reaches a pre-determined temperature, the ports 87 of the sliding valve or closure member 36 will be moved to the position shown in Fig. 2 closing off the communicating ports 25 of the seat thereby shutting off the steam. Should the temperature of the water slightly drop below this pre-determined temperature, the expanding element will contract and thereby shift the sliding valve so as to permit the steam to pass into the heating coils of the tank. In order to adj ust our improved temperature controller so that the temperature of the water will not exceed the pre-determined temperature, we have provided an adjusting or regulating screw in the form of a thumb nut 76 which is secured by a pin 78 to the threaded end of the stem 58. If the desired temperature has been reached and the ports of the valve are not completely shut off, this thumb screw may be turned in a direction to shorten the relative length between the free end of the lever and the closure member. It will be noted that by turning the stem in the threaded nut 57 in a direction to shorten thestem, the position of the closure member may be so adjusted that the intake ports 25 of the seat 35 may be completely shut off.

In order to definitely determine this, the test valve 30 may be opened to see if any further steam is passed from the steam supply into the heating coil 14.

l/Vhile in the above specification we have described a temperature controller for domestic hot water supply for the use of high pressure steam, it will be understood that the same device with modifications could be used for low pressure steam or for the control of gas fired or electrically heated tanks.

We claim:

1. In a temperature control system, the combination of a frame, a valve casing secured to said frame, a valve seat having a plurality of ports secured to said valve casing, a reciprocally mounted sliding closure member having a plurality of ports registrable in the normal operation of the system with the ports in said seat, a stem reciprocally mounted on said frame connected to said closure member, a lever pivoted to said frame and operatively connected to said stem, an expanding element connected to said lever, and over travel ports formed in said closure member and adapted to register with the ports in said seat when the temperature sur. rounding said expanding element reaches the predetermined temperature below the normal operating temperature of said valve.

2-. In a'temperature control system, the combination of a casing, a frame, a valve casing secured. to said frame, a valve seat formed in said casing having a plurality of ports therein, a slidingclosure member having a plurality of ports registrable in the normal operation of the system with the ports of said valve seats, there being a plurality of over travel ports in said closure member adapted to register with-ports in said seat when the system is being started up, a valve stem reciprocally mounted in said frame connected to said closure member, a lever pivoted to said frame and operatively connected to said stem, and an expanding element operatively connected to said lever and to said frame.

3. A temperature controller comprising a frame, a valve casing secured to said frame, a valve seat having a plurality of spaced apart transversely aligned apertures secured to said casing, a tubular member secured to said casing, a slidable closure member having a plurality of apertures mountedon said valve seat, a reciprocable stem mounted in said tube having one end connected with said closure member, a lever pivoted to said frame, an expanding element connected with said frame and operatively connected with said lever, oppositely disposed links operatively connecting the free end of said lever with said stem, and an adjustable threaded member forming the connection between the said links and said stem for adjusting the relationship between said stem and saidlever.

4. A temperature controller comprising a frame, a valve casing secured to said frame,

a supplemental valve casing secured to said first named valve casing and having ports extending therethrough to form a seat for said valve, a sliding closure member mounted on said valve seat and having a plurality of apertures adapted to register with the apertures in said valve seat, there being a plurality of over travel ports adapted to register with the ports in said valve seat when the closure member is in its normally inoperative position, and means operatively connected to said closure member for actuating said closure member from its normally operative position to its inoperative position.

5. A temperature controller comprising a frame, a valve casing secured to said frame, a supplemental valve casing secured to said first named valve casing and having ports extending therethrough to form a seat for said valve, a sliding closure member mounted on said valve seat and having a plurality of apertures adapted to register with theapertures in said valve seat, said closure member having a plurality of over travel ports adapted to register with the ports in said valve seat when the closure member is in its normally inoperative position, and means operatively connected with said closure member to cause said closure member to have the over travel ports register with the ports in said valve seat when the closure member is actuated to its normally inoperative position.

6. A temperature controller comprising a frame, a valve casing secured to said frame, a

supplemental casing having a valve seat formed therein secured to first named casing, there being a plurality of spaced apart apertures in said valve seat, a tubular member secured to said first named casing and extending into said frame, a reciprocally actuated stem mounted in said tubular member, a clo sure member mounted on said valve seat and connected to said stem, said closure member having a plurality of spaced apart apertures adapted to register with the apertures in said seat, there being a plurality of over travel apertures in said closure member adapted to register wlth the apertures 1n sald seat, a

' lever pivoted to said frame and operatively v combination of a valve casing, a valve seat formed in said casing having a port therein,

a closure member operable on said seat and provided with port means registrable in the normal operation of the system with the port of said seat, said closure member being also provided with additional port means adapted to register with the port in said seat upon abnormal operation of the system and means including an expanding element operatively connected to said closure member for controlling the same. V

8. In a temperature control system, the combination of a valve casing, a valve seat in said casing provided with a port, a closure member for said port having port means registrable in the normal operation of the system with the port in said seat, there being over travel port means in said closure member adapted to register with the port in said seat when the system is being started up, and means including an expanding element for controlling said closure member.

9. In a temperature control system, the combination of a valve casing, a valve seat in said casing provided with a port, a closure member for said port having port means registrable in the normal operation of the system with the port in said seat, there being over travel port means in said closure member adapted to register with the port in said seat when the temperature desired in the system reaches a predetermined temperature below the normal operating temperature, and means includingan expanding element for control ling said closure member.

In witness of the foregoing we afiix our signatures.

JOHN 0. WHITE. BOY w. MILLER. 

